Bad Day
by staceyyyy
Summary: She was having a bad day. And no one seemed to care. But surely someone could still salvage it?


**Disclaimer - I do not own Arrow. **

**This was just floating around in my head, needing to get out. Hope you enjoy. **

She was having a bad day.

No, actually that didn't cover it. She was having one of the worst days of her life.

She was currently running in the rain trying to get to her destination as quickly as she possibly could, trying to avoid looking like a drowned rat. By now her trench coat was soaking wet and all she wanted to do was go home, put on some pajamas, put on some Doctor Who and hopefully eat herself into a Ben & Jerry's stupor. But no. She ran, passing speeding cars and rushing pedestrians, leaving little to no thought to her already damaged heels. She didn't even want to think of the state her hair would be in once she arrived.

Not that anyone cared. Oliver had called to ask her to meet him and Digg at some restaurant downtown, something about a tricky investor requesting a meeting. She wasn't following the conversation very well at the time, having been preoccupied with the demanding tone and the command to get there in less than twenty minutes. That was thirty-five minutes ago. Plus she was pretty sure he didn't go into too much detail in general. Being his usual pain in the backside vague self, now that she thought about it.

Did she mention that it was her birthday today? Not that she expected anyone to remember or acknowledge the fact.

But she was getting ahead of herself.

From the moment she had opened her eyes she knew that things would just not go according to plan. It was just one of those feelings you get before the inevitable shit hits the fan. She had glanced at her alarm clock and realized she had overslept – confirmation enough for the bad day ahead.

She had every right to sleep through her alarm of 'course, considering how many solid hours she put in between Queen Consolidated and the Arrow Cave. And while she knew that Oliver wouldn't say anything about her being late into the office, it still grated on her nerves. She had heard enough rumors concerning exactly how she had received her position as Executive Assistant, and knew that not being reprimanded for being late would only fuel the flames.

While running down the stairs of her apartment building she had hoped that she could manage to look even a fraction of the picture of calm and poise that radiated off woman like Moira or Thea Queen no matter the circumstances. Or even worse Laurel Lance. She pushed that thought out of her mind, knowing that that line of thinking would get her nowhere fast.

Over the last couple of months she was constantly trying to compare herself to the gorgeous Laurel Lance, knowing she would never be able to reach such perfection. Especially in the eyes of her boss. Speaking of, knowing him he'd probably be worried. By now probably picturing her being kidnapped or dying in the boot of a car somewhere.

Of course her heel had broken while stepping out of her car. Her clumsiness baffled even her. And while she knew the two overly muscled men that she worked with found it amusing – it frustrated her to no end.

Isabel's new assistant had then managed to somehow spill coffee all down the front of her blouse as soon as she had stepped out of the elevators and into the office. The brand new blouse that she bought on a shopping trip last week, on one of her very rare days off from both her night and day jobs. She didn't get many, and to have wasted time and energy going from store to store trying to pick out something, well that was just incredibly frustrating. First of all it had to be classy. Not to mention expensive. And even though she tried to mix and match with her previous wardrobe, it never seemed to fit in. And she understood why. It was because she didn't fit in. She wasn't fit to be a secretary – or Executive Assistant as Oliver so delicately put it. She chose to go to MIT because she was happy with computers. Only to be ripped out of her comfort zone, without even a single thought to her feelings on the subject. And now she had to find clothes to match. While she loved helping Oliver in their nighttime activities, a little consideration towards her views on becoming his secretary – no matter how delicately he put it - would have been nice.

What she did to deserve the downpour of bad luck that was raining down on her today she would never know. Or maybe she just hacked into one two many federal databases and now the karma gods where getting back at her.

When she finally did manage to get into their office she found Oliver busy at his computer, concentrating away, reading some file on something or other. Deciding not to disturb him, she loaded up her computers, only to find her inbox flooded with emails from the IT department saying that they were in desperate need of her expertise on the crashed main server.

With a heavy sigh she stood up to duck her head into Oliver's office to let him know that she was here and would be in the IT department if he needed anything.

His distracted smile and nod in her general direction did nothing to improve her morning.

Today of all days his powers of perception and attention to details failed him. Walking off she tried not to let her emotions get the best of her, or allow thoughts of one more person forgetting her birthday dig into her brain. Convincing herself that he had more important things on his plate without knowing when her birthday is, she steeled herself and headed for the IT department.

By the time she had gotten back to her office it was well past lunchtime. She hurried into Oliver's office looking for him or Dig, only to find both missing. With a heavy sigh she stepped into her office, ordered take out to be delivered to her, and allowed herself to be buried under the never ending files that piled up on her every day.

Her phone buzzing on the desk was the only thing that woke her out of the file-induced coma that she had been in. After reading the fifteenth report of QC for the day, her brain was fried. She pushed on and was now on her thirty-seventh. Picking up the phone, not bothering to look at the caller ID, she let out a sigh as she realized what time it was and the fact that Oliver had probably expected her in the foundry one hour ago. So there was no surprise his voice called out from the other end of the line. What did come as a surprise to her was an Oliver whose voice sounded stressed, asking her to come to some Italian restaurant to help him with tricky investors.

While promising to be there soon, she ran through all the other things she had planned to do that night to celebrate her birthday, even though it would have been by herself. The bottle of red waiting for her at home would have to wait a little longer it would seem.

So now she ran, soaking from head to foot, completely giving up on what she looked like.

When she finally reached the front of the restaurant she briefly acknowledged never being here before. She took a deep breath, steeling herself for the air of superiority that she would most likely have to endure at such a high-end restaurant such as this. They would probably turn her away for her appearance alone.

Squaring her shoulders she pushed the door open, only to be greeted with a roar of voices yelling "SURPRISE". She looked around; not comprehending all the familiar faces of her loved ones that surrounded her and the reason for them all being here in the same space. Her eyes eventually landing of the one man that had managed to turn her life inside out from the moment he had landed bloodied and broken in the back of her car, in the hopes of an explanation.

"Wha… What? How?"

He walked to her with a sure stride.

"You didn't actually think we'd forget did you?" the smirk on his face told of how proud he was of himself. He started to move away to allow her friends to envelope her in hugs and to give her birthday wishes, but before she was pulled into the throng of people she caught his sleeve and turned him back to her.

"I don't know how, but I know you were somehow behind this".

He opened his mouth to protest, but she quickly broke him off.

"Thank you".

"Happy Birthday Felicity".

And with a parting smile she moved towards the rest of her friends and family.

And that smile made him almost not regret the day of torture in which he had to ignore the wind whirl that was Felicity Smoak.

**Hope you guys enjoyed. Just a bit of much needed fluff in this time of Oliver being an asshat on the show. As always, would love to hear your thoughts. **

**Hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day! Even those single people like me! :) **

**- Love to all - Stace **


End file.
